various
part of speech
adjective (various)
meaning for a pupil
1) Several different; of different kinds. tree →
2) More than one; many separate ones. tree →
sense in the lessons
It tells the reader there are a number of different things, but does not say exactly how many. In school writing it is a useful word for listing kinds: "various animals", "various shapes". In maths problems "various" does not give a number, so you must find the number elsewhere in the question. Phrases: "for various reasons", "at various times", "in various ways", "various kinds of".
examples
- The shop sells various kinds of sweets. tree →
- We measured various objects in the classroom with a ruler. tree →
- She was late for various reasons. tree →
- The puzzle can be solved in various ways. tree →
- Various children brought in pets for show and tell. tree →
- The museum has various dinosaur bones from around the world. tree →
- We drew various shapes: circles, squares and triangles. tree →
- I have visited my nan at various times this year. tree →
- Various causes led to this selection. tree →
note
"Various" goes before a plural noun: various books, not various book. Do not use "of" straight after it in careful writing: say "various children", not "various of the children" (use "several of" instead). Do not confuse with "variety" (noun) and "vary" (verb). In maths, "various" never means a fixed number.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «various» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.